Category: Basic Income

Poverty: ‘It’s a growing national conversation’

Poverty: ‘It’s a growing national conversation’

Scott Brison will be the main speaker at the public forum Let Them Eat Cake on Jan. 12. (STAFF) A dialogue on a guaranteed income and poverty, sponsored by the Annapolis Valley Regional Library, takes place Jan. 12, at 7:30 p.m. at the Kentville Fire Hall.

“Let them eat cake” is a phrase usually attributed to Marie Antoinette and has been used for more than 250 years to demonstrate the gap between the rich and the poor. And for as long as the problems of poverty, food insecurity and the precarious future of work have been discussed, there have been […]

How Finland could see benefits from its basic income experiment

How Finland could see benefits from its basic income experiment

The country is trialling a monthly basic income of £487 with 2,000 citizens One of the greatest political challenges in the 21st century is coming up with a welfare system which is both effective and fair. Recipients and non-recipients of benefits payments are both quick to point out apparent deficiencies in the status quo – as well as problems with any potential alternatives. But some countries are clearly ready for change.

As of 1 January 2017, Finland became the first European country to implement a plan whereby unemployed citizens receive a basic monthly income. Created by the government agency responsible […]

If Robots and AI Steal Our Jobs, a Universal Basic Income Could Help

The Korea IT Times have released a transcript of article by Dr.Peter Diamandis as follows
The article is about analysis and response to robots and artificial intelligence that could be steal our jobs.

Some fear that robots and AI will steal our jobs.
They probably will (in the near-term, at least half of them). If that happens, what will we do for a living? How will we earn money? In this post I’ll be discussing one of the most important proposed solutions to job loss due to automation—the notion of “universal basic income” (sometimes called guaranteed minimum income). […]

Kela’s researchers voice concerns about media interest in basic income experiment

Kela's researchers voice concerns about media interest in basic income experiment

The Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) began its widely-discussed basic income experiment on 9 January, 2017. Excessive media interest may distort the results of the newly-launched basic income experiment, warns the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela). “The interest is understandable, but in order not to distort the results the participants should not be approached simply because of the experiment. Also other media attention can undermine the integrity of the results from a research viewpoint,” Olli Kangas, the director of community relations at Kela, writes in a blog with researchers Tapio Räsänen, Miska Simanainen and Jouko Verho. They […]

Here’s The Behind The Scenes Thinking About A Universal Basic Income For Every Indian Citizen

Here's The Behind The Scenes Thinking About A Universal Basic Income For Every Indian Citizen

Parivartan Sharma / Reuters The idea is simple and elegant, and easy to sell to people of various political shades. Every citizen of India gets a small amount of money transferred into his or her bank account every month. For those who believe in a role for the government in welfare, this means a safety net for the poor, and a more elastic one than the current welfare state, bound as it is by a problematic poverty line. For those supportive of a welfare state but critical of a ‘nanny’ state, cash allows citizens to use the money as […]

Unconditional Basic Income becomes a leading policy idea

Unconditional Basic Income becomes a leading policy idea

The Unconditional Basic Income (UBI) will become a mainstream policy idea in 2017, with particular relevance for developing countries.

With increased trends in automation and the “gig economy” pointing to labour market disruption and uncertainty, the UBI looks increasingly probable. This once-heretical idea of giving all citizens a baseline income that is enough to live on, without requiring anything in return, has acquired sharp relevance – there is a real prospect that a large section of the US’s working population could lose their jobs nearly overnight with the advent of driverless trucks . Advocates point out that a UBI could […]

The economist behind Universal Basic Income: Give all citizens free money to help combat a ‘neofascist wave of populism’

The economist behind Universal Basic Income: Give all citizens free money to help combat a 'neofascist wave of populism'

Professor Guy Standing Professor Guy Standing Wikimedia Commons In 2011 Guy Standing, then an economist at the University of Bath, prefaced his new book with a warning.

He described a growing class of "precariat" workers, alienated by a western political agenda which had, since the 1970s, promoted market-led competition above job security. Real wages across the west had stalled for decades and "flexible" work was becoming the norm, leaving many millions around the world "without an anchor of stability."

This precariat, he said, "are prone to listen to ugly voices, and to use their votes and money to give those voices […]

Finland’s basic income experiment begins: one man looks forward to a new start

Finland's basic income experiment begins: one man looks forward to a new start

Juha Järvinen with three of his six children. Juha Järvinen, from the western Finnish city of Kurikka, felt like a lucky man in late 2016, when he learned he was one of the 2,000 unemployed selected to take part in a nationwide basic income experiment.

“When I saw the letter from Kela in the mailbox, I was like ’Yes!’”, he says.

Finland’s basic income trial is being run by the state-owned benefits administrator Kela. The 2,000 participants were selected from the ranks of existing labour market subsidy and unemployment benefit recipients. According to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, there were 213,000 […]

Finland and universal basic income

Finland and universal basic income

Photo: AFP A joint study conducted by Oxford University and the Oxford Martin school says 47% of the jobs in the US are at risk of being automated within the next 20 years. In interviews during the latter half of 2016, President Barack Obama was quizzed on the concept of Universal Basic Income (UBI). He responded by saying that the concept of UBI is one that will be debated for decades to come as computer systems get ever more efficient, thereby causing job losses all over the world. He did not shy away from the fact that it will […]

Finland Has Finally Launched Its Universal Basic Income Experiment

Finland Has Finally Launched Its Universal Basic Income Experiment

NEW YEAR, NEW INCOME

It looks like 2,000 citizens in Finland will welcome the new year with outstretched arms. These Finns are the lucky recipients of a guaranteed income beginning this year, as the country’s government finally rolls out its universal basic income (UBI) trial run. UBI is a potential source of income that could one day be available to all adult citizens, regardless of income, wealth, or employment status.

This pioneering UBI program was launched by the federal social security institution, Kela . It will give out €560 ($587) a month, tax free, to 2,000 Finns that were randomly […]